By Brian Steadman, church planting intern
In The Gospel of Luke chapter 10, Jesus sends out his disciples (in this case, the 72) to proclaim to the good news that Jesus' kingdom is drawing near. Luke notes that Jesus sent these ambassadors in pairs, "two by two." This pattern holds for the second half of Luke's gospel as we see the ministry of the gospel frequently carried forward in pairs – Peter and John, Paul and Barnabas, Paul and Silas, and many other combinations. Without trying to read too much into this pattern, I've always found this practice to be encouraging. I find it encouraging because while I've been attracted to ministry, and urban church planting in particular, for quite some time, I haven't been attracted to the prospect of going at it alone. Which is why the opportunity to minister as part of a church planting network was a no brainer for my family and I when given the chance. I have a team. As a church planting intern, I didn't have just one church planting pastor mentoring me, I had five. As an assistant pastor of a church plant, I draw from the narratives of not just one church plant, but three. And one day, should the Lord see fit for me to start a new congregation in Brooklyn, I will not parachute into a place to figure it out by myself. I will continue to have this team of pastors who are deeply invested in the success of that work.
The training and mentoring that I am immersed in continues to be a blessing not to be taken for granted. But the value of this team goes far beyond my development as a pastor and church planter. My wife has said on numerous occasions that without our network, our family's health would have a much rougher go of it. We need friends. Friends to process with. Friends to help carry our burdens. Friends to share our triumphs and joys as well as our failures and disappointments. We are far from some of our close friends, and while we are still strongly committed to those relationships, there's no denying that being able to physically sit across the table from friends who share the same day to day context that you do, is invaluable. We are far from family, but having the network is like having family built in. My wife testifies that just an hour of coffee with one of the other pastor wives in our network does much to re-ground her emotionally, spiritually, and physically. In a team, there is always someone there to listen. There to speak. There to give you a hug and tell you you're not alone. In short, my wife wisely says, "I just can't do alone."
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